Interview with RocketBowl developer Wade Tinney

A new spin on the 1958 World's Fair
By Russell D. Carroll [February 26, 2005]

Q: For everyone reading out there, who are you and what was your involvement with RocketBowl?
A: My name is Wade Tinney and I was the game designer and producer of RocketBowl.

Q: What do you think makes Independent games distinctive?
A: The fact that indie developers are not beholden to a publisher gives them more freedom to experiment and hopefully, innovate. Also, most indie games are developed by MUCH smaller teams, so I think you tend to get games with a little more personality to them. Of course, these are broad generalizations, but still...I think there is some truth to them.

Q: How did your studio get your start in working with independent games?
A: When we initially started the company, the only clear way (to us!) to make money by developing games was by doing client work. So we spent most of the past 4 years creating games for clients like Lego, Mattel, Cartoon Network, and other large brands. These were all web-based games in Flash and Shockwave that were used for promotional purposes. However, the downloadable game industry started up around the same time we did, so we began making original titles of our own in between all the client work. Our games QUEUE, Unipong, AlphaQUEUE, and now RocketBowl were all created in the downtime between client projects. At this point, we're nearly in a position to be able to focus entirely on the original, downloadable games.

Q: What is the most innovative feature of RocketBowl and how is it innovative in your mind?
A: I think the "rocketboost" control scheme, while very simple, is pretty innovative. All the other bowling games I've played either use a meter system (one to set strength and one to set curve, for example), or a direct mouse control.

It works like this; each ball has a limited number of boosts which can be used on each throw. Depending on the ball, this will include h-boost, which will redirect your ball to the left or right, v-boosts, which will cause your ball to hop up in the air, or both h-boost and v-boost. Since there are a limited number of boosts per throw, the player needs to use them judiciously. We found that in real world bowling, people often tried to put "body english" on their ball as it rolled down the lane, trying to will it to shift in one direction or another just before it hits the pins. The control scheme in RocketBowl was inspired by that phenomenon.

Q: What do gamers appreciate most about RocketBowl?
A: That's a great question. I wish everyone who [has] ever played the game would send us an email with their answer. Personally, I like the replayability of the game and the challenge of finding new and better approaches to a given set of pins. Since you are bowling over a contoured terrain in RocketBowl, and have a range of bowling balls to choose from, there are a limitless set of possible approaches that one can take.

Q: What was the single most difficult part of RocketBowl to program?
A: Well I didn't any of the programming myself, but we did spend a lot of time integrating the ODE physics engine into Torque and tweaking the settings.

Q: Other than your own game did any one of the IGF finalists or Student Showcase games stand out to you? Why?
A: I'm a big fan of Wik & the Fable of Souls. The guys at Reflexive did a great job with that one. It's really polished and was a refreshing departure from most of the offerings at downloadable games sites.

Q: How do you think Independent Games will evolve in the future?
A: I think developers will get smarter about using tools to speed up their process and allow them to make better products in less time. I think the market for smaller games that are aimed at the casual gamer will continue to grow, but so will the expected production values. I hope that developers (including us!) will get more savvy about business and production so that they can create better products that will find a bigger market.

Q: What is the biggest challenge facing Independent games?
A: Cashflow! Even a small game can take a lot of time and energy to develop well. It can be extremely difficult to balance money-making endeavors with the production of your next original game title. Even if you find a market for your game, it could take months before you see any money from it.

Q: As one of the leaders of Independent Games, what is next for you?
A: Lately we've been putting more effort into our own website and trying to build our own traffic so that we can have a more direct relationship with our players, rather than relying entirely on our distribution partners. We're also looking forward to building more games with Garage Games's Torque Engine.